A doctor is able to determine that the infant was born prematurely, and could have died from natural causes due to listeriosis, a bacterial infection that Katie contracted from drinking unpasteurized milk from their Amish dairy farm.

Publishers Weekly had a mixed review of the novel, saying, "told from both third-person omniscient and first-person (Ellie's) vantages, the story rolls leisurely through the trial preparations, the results of which are repeated, tediously, in the courtroom.

Perhaps the story's quietude is appropriate, given its magnificently painted backdrop and distinctive characters, but one can't help wishing that the spark igniting the book's opening pages had built into a full-fledged blaze.

"[1] However, Kristina Lanier wrote a more positive review for the Christian Science Monitor, saying, "Picoult sets a big task for herself in 'Plain Truth', but she pulls it off - avoiding sentimentality and even maintaining the cultural tension and thriller-like guessing game into the book's final scenes.

The review of the book, written by Jill Smolowe stated, "despite the occasional cliche and a coda that feels artificially tacked on, Picoult's seventh novel never loses its grip.